Latest Samsung TV takes a 90-degree picture twist

TVs are taking a twist. Samsung has unveiled one that displays in portrait mode. It’s great for displaying social media video.

Samsung’s new Sero TV can be used vertically to display social media video shot in portrait mode.

TVs are taking a twist. Samsung has unveiled one that displays in portrait mode. It’s great for displayin­g social media video, but you’ll need to rotate it for normal TV to fill the screen.

The Sero TV is one of the quirky TV products on show at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Another Samsung TV, the 85-inch (215cm), 8K QLED, comes without a bezel or edge. It looks as though the pixels could fall off the sides.

These unusual sets are being rolled out alongside con­venti­onal TVs. In 2020, we’re in an age when TV makers are trying to convince us to buy very big TVs with high-resolution 8K displays.

But we’re also in an age when the TV market is changing. Samsung and LG are focusing more and more on the connected home and artificial intelligence, while Sony, at this year’s CES, didn’t promote any TVs at its media conference yesterday. It’s getting more involved in partnering with carmakers in offering driverless technology.

TVs remain part of the story, but TV manufacturers are setting their sights further afield.

Yesterday Samsung was keen to talk about kitchen products: a family hub fridge that uses AI to identify what’s in your fridge, suggest­ recipes and guide you through the process, even helping you plan meals ahead.

We’ve seen versions of the smart fridge before; the question is whether the technology is really helpful and will take off.

Korean rival LG only briefly mentioned new TVs. LG said it would pump out more top-of-range OLED TVs in 2020 and bring six new 8K TVs to market. Users will be able to monitor other smart devices in their homes via their TV. This will be supported by Amazon’s Alexa and will be available in 144 countries.

LG mainly wanted to spruik bringing AI to a range of its white­goods: washing machines, dryers, fridges and ovens. It says its new washers will detect clothing types and select the optimum cycle for the clothing load, and you won’t have to manually select cycles.

If you buy a matching LG dryer, the washer will send the clothing settings to a dryer which, again, will save you from manual­ly programming it.

You will be able to choose from hundreds of thousands of recipes via a smartphone app and send cooking instructions from your phone to new LG ThinQ ovens.

As clever as the technology is, the question is whether it can change the lives of users or will wind up in the category of clever gimmicks. Time will tell.

LG, however, believes it is on a winner with its proactive customer care service, which is capable of working out whether appliances will fail ahead of time. You’ll get an alert if the washing machine notices you’re using too much powder. It will alert you to a potential problem in a dryer if it notices a change of air flow.